PRICHARD, Alabama -- Volunteers worked on Tuesday to clear brush and trash from the site where a city worker found the body of 8-year-old Hiawayi Robinson on Sept. 18.

Behind an abandoned building on Rebel Road a mound of stuffed animals, candles and toys overflowed from under a light purple canopy. Since authorities announced Hiawayi had been found, the pile has continued to grow with mourners constantly arriving to pay their respects.

"You hear about things like this but you never expect it to happen here," said Ashley Brady. Brady previously lived in St. Stephens Woods Apartments, the complex where Hiawayi was last seen by her family members.

"It just broke my heart when I found out she'd been killed," she said. "I have an 8-year-old niece. Lord knows what I would do if this happened."

Brady stopped at the memorial Tuesday morning to help her mother, Meredith Sartin, clear the area. Sartin, of Eight Mile, brought a teddy bear and candles when she made her first trip to the memorial on Sept. 18.

She started clearing the area after watching another woman cleaning. Working with other volunteers she helped fell overgrown bushes and pick up the trash scattered near the memorial. Earlier, she had planted miniature roses near the purple tent.

"I wanted to bring some life here, not death," she said. "Roses just mean so much."

Volunteers were expected to be back at the memorial at 5 p.m. to plant additional flowers behind the purple tent. Sartin suggested anyone wanting to add to the memorial bring tents instead to protect stuffed animals from rain.

A retired nurse, Sartin has spent more than two decades living in Mobile County. About half of her 40-year career was spent working from Mobile County Metro Jail.

"We've never had anything like this, where people don't know what's happening," she said. "I make sure my doors are locked now."

Prichard police have been working side-by-side with the FBI to identify suspects in Hiawayi's disappearance and death although they've refrained from releasing any details to the public.Officials have not discussed any possible cause of death, identified any suspects or said when Hiawayi was killed.

"(Police) aren't going to tell much but I think that's understandable," Sartin said.